Marc Savard: Dollars And Sense

We’ve all been slapped in the face at one point in our lives. For Bruins center Marc Savard, he must feel like a test dummy for it. On March 7, 2010 – Matt Cooke goes unpunished for a blind side hit to the head as a habitual offender. There’s a slap. On January 22, 2011 – former Bruin Matt Hunwick of the Colorado Avalanche checks Savard clean but hard and likely ended Savard’s career. There’s another slap. And on June 15, 2011 – the Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup, with the engraving (by NHL stipulations) not likely to include Savard’s name.

Ouch. That’s a hard one.

As reported by The Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa, Savard is not going to recover  in time for this year’s training camp in September. This isn’t much of an update as much as a disguised expectation, but it’s definitely something that needs to be put out there. As much of a taboo it is to discuss to this point, what is in Savard’s head for the future?

Savard hasn’t been the same and he knows it, and I’m not talking off the ice. Scoring 10 points in 25 games for 2010-2011 and 33 points in 41 games for 2009-2010 was a significant drop from previous years. That’s 0.4 points per game and 0.8 points per game respectively. That’s a significant drop from 2008-2009, where he was 1.07 points per game.

Savard’s situation puts the Bruins in a predicament. His $4 mil cap hit isn’t a problem if he stays on the Injured Reserve list, because it won’t count towards the cap. The Bruins can sign someone from free agency or pick up a player via trade, but not without difficulty. First, there is not available talent at Savard’s caliber currently in the market. Second, if the Bruins do manage a decent player from FA or trade, will that player be short term or long term? Savard is signed with the Bruins until 2017.

As thankful as I am for his ability to lift a city, but unless there is a miracle in the works – the Bruins and Savard need to part ways, and it will have to be Savard making the cut.

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